Kimi Antonelli told he will never be another Max Verstappen after ‘frightening’ Australian Grand Prix decision

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the youngest driver on the Formula 1 grid during the Australian Grand Prix, when he made his debut for Mercedes.

The 18-year-old Italian was thrust straight into the spotlight this year after Lewis Hamilton announced he would be joining Ferrari, with Toto Wolff branding Antonelli the next Max Verstappen.

Antonelli had a tough start to his time in an F1 car after crashing during Friday practice for the Italian GP after just 10 minutes in the car, then his debut in Melbourne saw incredibly tricky conditions in the wet.

Unseen footage showed Antonelli correcting a massive slide moments before Jack Doohan crashed his Alpine, exhibiting his impressive car control.

Discussing his first race with Mercedes, Peter Windsor spotted something that he thinks Antonelli must improve if he wants to get to a level where he can win titles when speaking on the Cameron CC podcast.

Peter Windsor thinks Kimi Antonelli must improve driving in fast corners

Antonelli is known for being a spectacular driver trackside because of his style, which is similar to Lewis Hamilton’s way of hustling a car through corners.

But after watching Antonelli during the Australian GP, Windsor thinks the 18-year-old needs to be smoother if he wants to get to the same level as Verstappen.

“I don’t know what Kimi [Antonelli] is doing on those fast corners. It doesn’t surprise me in that very fast approach to the Parabolica that he had that shunt now, when I look at the way he was driving in Melbourne,” said Windsor.

“Until he gets on top of that, he will never be another Max. It’s looks pretty frightening how he looks on fast corners.”

Kimi Antonelli was the highest-placed rookie in Australian Grand Prix

It was a testament to the conditions that Antonelli was one of two rookies who finished the Australian GP without crashing in the treacherous conditions.

Part of this was down to the painted white lines on the public road sections of the Albert Park street track, which were too slippery to maintain grip on the Intermediate tyres.

Antonelli started from P16 after being knocked out in qualifying due to damaging his floor at Turn 6, and managed to work his way up to P4.

The Italian was briefly handed a time penalty for an unsafe release which demoted him to P5, but Mercedes filed a right to review with the stewards and managed to overturn the penalty to keep his fourth place.